Modern jetties, particularly those handling petroleum, gas or bulk commodities, typically use quick-release mooring hooks to hold vessel lines and restrain the vessel against the jetty face. The mooring hooks are attached to a base which is bolted to the top of the jetty, and are generally associated with a motorised capstan or winch which is used to retrieve heavy mooring lines from an arriving vessel, allowing the eye of the mooring line to be placed over the hook by the mooring crew and subsequently tensioned using the vessel's winches.
The hooks pivot vertically and horizontally to accommodate variations in mooring patterns and the vessel height above the jetty. Typically, these will change as the load in the vessel changes.
The quick-release mooring hooks are designed so that after a locking mechanism is released, the hook rotates so that the bend in the hook faces towards the vessel, thus releasing the eye of the mooring line. The major advantage of the quick-release hook is that lines can be released under full tension, enabling the vessel to depart quickly while retaining maximum control despite counteracting forces from wind, waves, tide or current.
The combination of a quick-release hook and capstan unit (or a winch) provides significant advantages to the safety of jetty personnel, and also increases productivity because of improved vessel turn around times. As such, they have become the industry standard, particularly in petroleum and mineral ports with exposed weather conditions.
While the release mechanism provides an improvement over the prior art, the vessel lines have, up until now, been connected manually to the quick-release hook by a mooring crew, exposing members of the crew to the risk of injury. Particularly, if too much tension comes onto the mooring line as the eye of the mooring lines is being placed over the hook. In such situations, operators are exposed to the serious risk of injury. Particularly, crush injuries involving their hands and fingers. Further, mooring lines are heavy and lifting them can result in back injury.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an improved technique for securing the mooring line to a mooring hook.